Scott Anderson is a veteran foreign reporter and war correspondent, and a contributing writer for The New York Times. Over his career he has reported from Bosnia, Libya, Palestine and across the Middle East. In this episode, he spoke to host Hannah Lucinda Smith about his new book, King of Kings , a gripping account of the fall of the Shah of Iran, the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the rise of the Islamic Republic. Together, they explore the flaws that led to the Shah’s downfall, and why Western p...
Nov 03, 2025•34 min•Season 1Ep. 3318
We’ve heard enough from the pessimists. Yes, these are hard times, but what investors, business owners and all of us need right now is not more despair about the economy, but a clear roadmap towards growth and prosperity. In October 2025, Jeremy Hunt came to the Intelligence Squared stage to share his vision of how we can achieve economic renewal. Hunt’s optimism is grounded in the authority of experience. As a former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary and Health Secretary, he held s...
Nov 02, 2025•37 min•Season 1Ep. 3317
We’ve heard enough from the pessimists. Yes, these are hard times, but what investors, business owners and all of us need right now is not more despair about the economy, but a clear roadmap towards growth and prosperity. In October 2025, Jeremy Hunt came to the Intelligence Squared stage to share his vision of how we can achieve economic renewal. Hunt’s optimism is grounded in the authority of experience. As a former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary and Health Secretary, he held s...
Oct 31, 2025•36 min•Season 1Ep. 3316
We’re only at the very beginning of the AI transformation. The next big leap isn’t just smarter chatbots, it’s AI agents: tools that don’t just answer questions but loop, reason, and complete whole tasks within your workflows. In this episode, journalist and author Kamal Ahmed sits down with Aaron Levie, CEO and co-founder of Box, to explain how a strong content and AI strategy enables organisations to rethink how work gets done across their businesses using AI agents. Learn why most companies d...
Oct 29, 2025•49 min•Season 1Ep. 3315
The morning after Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris in the U.S. presidential election, The New York Times front page declared: ‘America Hires a Strongman’. But is Trump really a ‘strongman’ and is it fair to put him in the same category of leaders as Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping? The Trump administration is already viewed by many commentators as more authoritarian than the first. But will Trump meaningfully crack down on civil liberties? Will he persecute his political opponents? Will he...
Oct 27, 2025•33 min•Season 1Ep. 3314
This event is part of our Age of the Strongman series. Click here to see the other events in the series . The morning after Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris in the U.S. presidential election, The New York Times front page declared: ‘America Hires a Strongman’. But is Trump really a ‘strongman’ and is it fair to put him in the same category of leaders as Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping? The Trump administration is already viewed by many commentators as more authoritarian than the first. But...
Oct 25, 2025•38 min•Season 1Ep. 3313
As the BBC’s Chief International Correspondent, Lyse Doucet has witnessed and reported on some of the most consequential events of our time. She has reported from Afghanistan since 1988, during the Soviet troop withdrawal, played a leading role in the BBC’s coverage of the Arab Spring uprisings reporting from Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Syria, and has covered major wars as well as efforts to make peace in the Middle East since 1994. In 2022 she covered the Russian invasion of Ukraine live from Ky...
Oct 23, 2025•39 min•Season 1Ep. 3310
As the BBC’s Chief International Correspondent, Lyse Doucet has witnessed and reported on some of the most consequential events of our time. She has reported from Afghanistan since 1988, during the Soviet troop withdrawal, played a leading role in the BBC’s coverage of the Arab Spring uprisings reporting from Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Syria, and has covered major wars as well as efforts to make peace in the Middle East since 1994. In 2022 she covered the Russian invasion of Ukraine live from Ky...
Oct 21, 2025•36 min•Season 1Ep. 3311
‘Unforgettable characters, written with irrepressible verve and historical accuracy [...] thrums with swordswinging energy.’ ― Simon Sebag Montefiore The Hundred Years’ War was an age-defining conflict. The violent struggle between England and France spanned over a century and permanently transformed the art of European warfare itself. Rich with stories of iconic figures, from Joan of Arc to Henry V, the sheer scale of it continues to inspire fictional retellings today. In his Essex Dogs trilogy...
Oct 19, 2025•46 min•Season 1Ep. 3310
‘Unforgettable characters, written with irrepressible verve and historical accuracy [...] thrums with swordswinging energy.’ ― Simon Sebag Montefiore The Hundred Years’ War was an age-defining conflict. The violent struggle between England and France spanned over a century and permanently transformed the art of European warfare itself. Rich with stories of iconic figures, from Joan of Arc to Henry V, the sheer scale of it continues to inspire fictional retellings today. In his Essex Dogs trilogy...
Oct 19, 2025•38 min•Season 1Ep. 3309
How can we reverse the enshittification of digital platforms? With Cory Doctorow Why does every online platform seem to start out great - then slowly turn to garbage? Why do our digital public squares now feel more like corporate malls... or burning trash heaps? ‘Enshittification’ has been word of the year in the UK, USA and Australia. It's been printed in the pages of the FT and declaimed from podiums at the EU. As a word, it captures the feeling of a world that is ever worsening. Cory Doctorow...
Oct 17, 2025•42 min•Season 1Ep. 3308
‘There is only one thing worse than fighting with allies, and that is fighting without them.’ – Winston Churchill In a world where geopolitical alliances are fraying and tensions are rising, what can the fragile coalition that defeated Hitler teach us about the challenges facing the West today? In September 2025 historian Tim Bouverie came to the Intelligence Squared stage to discuss his Sunday Times bestselling book Allies at War: The Politics of Defeating Hitler. In conversation with Editor of...
Oct 14, 2025•38 min•Season 1Ep. 3307
‘There is only one thing worse than fighting with allies, and that is fighting without them.’ – Winston Churchill In a world where geopolitical alliances are fraying and tensions are rising, what can the fragile coalition that defeated Hitler teach us about the challenges facing the West today? In September 2025 historian Tim Bouverie came to the Intelligence Squared stage to discuss his Sunday Times bestselling book Allies at War: The Politics of Defeating Hitler. In conversation with Editor of...
Oct 12, 2025•32 min•Season 1Ep. 3306
The threat of war between the US and China seems to be a constant background hum in the news cycle. Commentators often tackle when and why this conflict might emerge and escalate. But how would a war between the two great powers actually play out? Who would dominate across land, sea, air, space and cyberspace? In today’s episode, host Adam McCauley sits down with Franz-Stefan Gady to discuss the operational, organisational and political challenges that the US would face should it go to war with ...
Oct 11, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 3305
This is an episode of The Specialist, your weekly dose of wonder. In The Specialist, explore the significance and journey of an extraordinary work through the eyes of those that know it best. On this episode, the extraordinary story of the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé — a car so rare and revered that few believed it would ever leave the Mercedes-Benz museum. Yet it went on to become the most expensive automobile in history. To tell this story to full effect, this episode will featu...
Oct 10, 2025•17 min•Ep. 3304
Can criminal psychology offer us a new way to think about and combat climate change? In this episode, criminal psychologist Julia Shaw sits down with physicist and broadcaster Helen Czerski to offer a compelling new framework to understand environmental crime. While big structural issues often cloud political progress on climate action, Shaw takes a more granular approach. In conversation with Czerski, she draws on her new book Green Crime to illuminate the minds of those behind some of the worl...
Oct 09, 2025•44 min•Season 1Ep. 3303
Anthony Scaramucci , former White House Communications Director turned outspoken Trump critic, comes to Intelligence Squared in September for a straight-talking conversation on the fallout from Trump’s second presidency. From his brief but explosive tenure inside the Trump White House in 2017 to his career on Wall Street and success as co-host of ‘The Rest Is Politics US’ podcast, Scaramucci has never been one to hold back — sometimes at great personal cost. In conversation with Emily Maitlis he...
Oct 07, 2025•32 min•Season 1Ep. 3302
Anthony Scaramucci , former White House Communications Director turned outspoken Trump critic, comes to Intelligence Squared in September for a straight-talking conversation on the fallout from Trump’s second presidency. From his brief but explosive tenure inside the Trump White House in 2017 to his career on Wall Street and success as co-host of ‘The Rest Is Politics US’ podcast, Scaramucci has never been one to hold back — sometimes at great personal cost. In conversation with Emily Maitlis he...
Oct 05, 2025•36 min•Season 1Ep. 3301
Malcolm Tucker. Pet ASBOs. A law requiring everyone in Britain to carry around a plastic bag. It’s been twenty years since Armando Iannucci‘s The Thick of It first brought the chaos and drama of the fictitious ‘Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship’ into our lives. First aired on the BBC in 2005, the show satirised the Blair government’s spin-heavy politics, with Peter Capaldi’s foul-mouthed character Malcolm Tucker quickly becoming one of Britain’s most unforgettable TV villains. In Sept...
Oct 04, 2025•38 min•Season 1Ep. 3300
Malcolm Tucker. Pet ASBOs. A law requiring everyone in Britain to carry around a plastic bag. It’s been twenty years since Armando Iannucci‘s The Thick of It first brought the chaos and drama of the fictitious ‘Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship’ into our lives. First aired on the BBC in 2005, the show satirised the Blair government’s spin-heavy politics, with Peter Capaldi’s foul-mouthed character Malcolm Tucker quickly becoming one of Britain’s most unforgettable TV villains. In Sept...
Oct 03, 2025•37 min•Season 1Ep. 3299
Are supercomputers and killer robots going to take over? In this episode, Adam McCauley speaks to professor and author Anthony King in order to debunk the science- fiction tinged narrative of AI’s military potential and to, instead, explore the actual applications of AI in the armed forces over the last decade. Professor Anthony King was appointed Director of the University of Exeter’s pioneering Strategy and Security Institute in 2023. He previously held positions at the University of Warwick a...
Sep 30, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 3298
Watch the full video of this event for free here: https://mailchi.mp/intelligencesquared/lw6gixq1t9 The transcript of this event is available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GvYGaOE-fnDQdFvrTLQjUGcrE6Ra0acN/view?usp=drive_link --- The most influential inventor of the modern world, Sir Tim Berners-Lee is a different kind of visionary. Born in the same year as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, Berners-Lee famously shared his invention, the World Wide Web, for no commercial reward. Its widespread a...
Sep 28, 2025•36 min•Season 1Ep. 3297
Watch the full video of this event for free here: https://mailchi.mp/intelligencesquared/lw6gixq1t9 The transcript of this event is available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GvYGaOE-fnDQdFvrTLQjUGcrE6Ra0acN/view?usp=drive_link --- The most influential inventor of the modern world, Sir Tim Berners-Lee is a different kind of visionary. Born in the same year as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, Berners-Lee famously shared his invention, the World Wide Web, for no commercial reward. Its widespread a...
Sep 27, 2025•39 min•Season 1Ep. 3296
This is an episode of Hotels with History, produced by Intelligence Squared on behalf of Perowne International . On todays episode, Richard journeys to Singapore to explore the legendary Raffles Hotel. Discover how four visionary Armenian brothers turned a 10-room beach bungalow into a magnificent Neo-Renaissance palace, where literary giants found their muse, and some of the world’s most famous cocktails were shaken. Follow on Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoi...
Sep 25, 2025•26 min•Season 1Ep. 3295
For more than 40 years, world-renowned foreign correspondent Jon Lee Anderson has been reporting on wars, crises and revolutions, from Latin America to the Middle East and Africa. Throughout his career he has made countless visits to Afghanistan, bearing witness to the Soviet invasion and the subsequent US interventions from 9/11 to the present day. His new book, To Lose A War , contains his reporting on the 20-year US military presence in Afghanistan, its disastrous and chaotic end and the retu...
Sep 23, 2025•37 min•Season 1Ep. 3294
Did you know that Mary Shelley was a teenager when she started writing Frankenstein in 1814? Or that England’s most prolific goal scorer - man or woman - was superstar striker Lily Parr, who scored a staggering 997 goals between 1919 and 1951? When Kate Mosse launched the #WomenInHistory campaign, asking people to highlight women whose achievements have been overlooked by history, she received thousands of nominations from around the globe. The result is her new book, Feminist History For Every ...
Sep 21, 2025•54 min•Season 1Ep. 3293
What if the real story of climate change is far more hopeful than we’ve been led to believe? With so much doomsday reporting and general misinformation on climate change, it can be hard to know what’s true - and what actually matters. In this episode, bestselling author and data scientist Hannah Ritchie joins us to examine the data on the biggest questions holding us back: Is it too late? Are we too polarised? Will we run out of the resources we need? Speaking to physicist and broadcaster Helen ...
Sep 20, 2025•42 min•Season 1Ep. 3292
Ian McEwan is the critically acclaimed author of nineteen novels and two short story collections. His novels include Atonement, Enduring Love, The Children Act and On Chesil Beach , and he is the recipient of many awards including the Booker Prize, the Somerset Maugham Award and the Whitbread Novel of the Year Award. In this episode, McEwan sits down with author and journalist Alex Preston to discuss the enduring power of the novel, the challenges of writing climate fiction and his new book What...
Sep 18, 2025•42 min•Season 1Ep. 3291
On today’s episode, an episode from our friends at Sotheby's exploring the remarkable collecting journey of Pauline Karpidas, one of the most influential art patrons of the past fifty years. Ahead of Sotheby’s landmark sale of her extraordinary Surrealist collection this September, collector Tiquio Acentio, curator Jasper Sharp, and Sotheby’s Worldwide Chairman of Impressionist and Modern Art Helena Newman will join broadcaster and art historian Kate Bryan to reflect on Karpidas’ unique eye, her...
Sep 16, 2025•53 min•Ep. 3290
‘It is vanishingly rare for a writer to both confront the ugliness of humanity and still search for its beauty. Roy is that rare writer.’ – Naomi Klein Arundhati Roy is one of today’s most esteemed public intellectuals. The author of novels including the Booker Prize-winning The God of Small Things, Roy is equally respected as a political essayist. Her words on topics from the COVID-19 pandemic to the plight of India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi have helped define public discourse in India...
Sep 14, 2025•34 min•Season 1Ep. 3289
